CA welcomes
ICC decision

Melbourne: Cricket Australia has welcomed the International Cricket Council’s decision to approve the much-debated concept of playing day-night Test matches.

In a decision intended to boost the flagging popularity of the five-day game, the ICC on Monday gave its nod to day-night Test matches, but left it to the interested parties to choose the type of ball to be used. CA chief executive officer James Sutherland, who has long argued that cricket needs to recognise that fans have a better chance of watching Test cricket if it is played at night, patted ICC for their innovative decision.

“Test cricket is by definition played on at least three week days, times when most people are at work or school, and this limits the ability of fans to attend or watch on TV,” he said in a statement. “We limit ourselves by staging cricket’s premium format at times when fans often cannot watch. We know that the audience for the Perth Test, which is on TV in the evening on the east coast, is up significantly because fans in the East can tune in after work.

“CA has a formal strategic plan that demands that Australian cricket puts fans first and we will now add day-night Tests to the agenda when we talk to other Test nations about their future tours down-under,” he added. (PTI)